Apparatus for inserting insulating disks in metal caps



1,629 513 May 1927' 1..v G.. LANGE APPARATUS FOR INSERTING INSULATINGDISKS IN METAL CAPS Fil ed Jan.27. 1925 2 sum-sh. 1

INVENTOR 7 jaw/em 6.1anyc f m, flan e -A1TORNEY 1,629,513 May 24, 1927.L G. LANGE APPARATUS FOR INSERTINGJNSULATING DISKS IN METAL CAPS FiledJan.27, 1925 2 shuts-sum 2 INVENTOR 1 001/071 [anye BY f I D z! aATTORNEY Patented May 24, 1927.

UNITED STATES LOUVERN G. LANGE, OF PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR INSERTING INSULATING DISKS IN METAL CAPS.

Application filed January It is common practice to provide bottles,jars, and like containers, with metal caps to serve in place of corks orstoppers, and it is also common practice to line those caps withvarnished paper disks to prevent the contents of'the container fromcomingin contact with the metal of the cap. The present practice is topunch or cut the insulating disks from a flat sheet of stock and theninsert them by hand in the metal caps.

It is anobject of the present invention to provide a method and machinewherebycut disks of varnished paper, or of cork, or of similarinsulating material, can be inserted automatically into the metal capsin which the disks are to be used to insulate the cap from the containeron which the cap is ultimately afiixed. v

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be madeclear by the following detailed description, and by the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine;

' Fig. 2 is a side elevation with certain parts in section; i

Fig. 3' shows in elevation the cam mechanism for advancing the capsthrough the machine together with certain related elements;

Fig. 4 is a detail of the intermittent driving gear, and r Fig. 5 is asectional view of a typical finished cap. I

The machine comprises a base 1 with live rigidly mounted posts orpedestals 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Mounted on posts 2 and 3 is a plate 7(Fig. 1) to serve as the supportfor a vertical cage or stack in whichthe insulatingdisks 8 are arranged for feeding into the machine. Thisrack or stack is adjustable to accommodate disks of various diameters,and comprises a plurality of vertical rods 9 held at their upper ends inmetal sectors 10 and 11, the latter being adjustably secured to oneanother by a pivot 12 about which both may swing to increase or decreasethe effective diameter of the space between the rods. Thelower ends ofthe rods are similarly held in adjustable sectors 1.3 and 14.

Posts or pedestals 4, 5 and 6 support a triangular plate 15 (Fig. 1) onwhich certain of the movingelements are mounted as hereinafterdescribed.

Power from a driving motor is transmitted to a pulley 16 mounted on avertical 2?, 1925. Serial No. 5,151.

shaft 17, the lower end of which fits in a step-bearing on plate 1, andthe uppenend of which is supported and guided by a horizontal plate 18(Fig. 2) Rigidly mounted on shaft 17 is a pinion 19 meshing with a gear20 on a vertical shaft 21. The upper face of gear 20 carries four camspositioned 90apart and adapted to engage with the roller 22 pivoted inthe lower end of a push bar 23. This bar is adjustable in length and isfree toslide through plates 18 and 15. At the upper end of bar 23 is aball and socket connection 24 with a rocker arm 25' pivotally supportedon a bracket 26 bolted to plate 15. The other end of the rocker armengages the rod 27 of a piston 28, the function of which is to push aninsulating disk down into a metal cap and there seat it squarely on themetal face as hereinafter described more at length.

, A compression spring 29 co-acting between plate 15 and a collar 30pinned to rod 27 normally holds the piston in its upper or retractedposition and normally holds-roller 22in position to be engaged by thecams on gear 20.

"The driving shaft 17 also carries a pinion 31, but this pinion as shownin Fig. 4 has certain of the teeth cut away so that an intermittentmovement is transmitted to the gear 32 with which the will be readilyunderstoo in the art. Gear 32 is rigidly mounted on a vertical shaft 33supported atits lower end in a step bearing on plate 1 and passingfreely through plate 18. Clamped to shaft 33 is a cam: plate 34 havingfour radial arms 35 (Fig. for use in advancing the metal caps throughthe machine.

By reference to Fig. 3it will be seen that the empty metal caps enterthe machine through a guideway 36, the side walls of which areadjustable toward or from one another to accommodate the machine to capsof differing diameters. This adjustment is obtained through slotted cars37 carried by the side rails of the guide, and eacn provided with aclamping screw or bolt hen a cap has entered the, machine far enough tobe engaged by one of the cam arms 35, it is swung around on thearc of acircle through a guideway 39 and ultimately comes to rest immediatelybeneath and in alignment with plunger 28.. The intermittent movement forarms 35 is brought about through the gearing shown in Fig. 4, and

(pinion mes-hes, as by those skilled exact alignment with the plunger isinsured by mechanism hereinafter described. The guideway 39, likeguideway 36, is adjustable in width to accommodate various kinds ofcaps. This capacity for adjustment is obtained by means of ears lOintegral with the inside rail of the chute and adjustably secured bybolts ell to the under side of a stationary frame plate a2, and bysimilar slotted cars 43 integral with the outside rail of the chute andadjustably bolted to a stationary frame plate 4 f.

After the plunger has forced an insulating disk into a metal cappositioned beneath it, the cap can be moved forward by the swinging arm35 and ultimately kicked olf into the discharge chute 45. The exact formof arms 35 is not material so long as the caps are progressively movedinto position beneath the plunger and ultimately delivered from thatposition to a discharge chute. The vertical shaft 33 is squared at itsup per end and serves to drive a circular plate l6, the function ofwhich is to take insulating disks from the stack and carry them aroundinto position to be forced by plunger 28 downward into the waiting emptymetal cap. To effect this result the circular plate 46 has four openings47 positioned apart and each of a diameter suitable for readily pickingoff the lowermost insulating disk of the stack 8. The openings in plate46 may conveniently be of oval outline to more readily receiveinsulating disks from the stack, and plate 46 can be of a thicknessapproximating that of an insulating disk. A stationary guide plate l2serves to keep the disks from dropping out of the holes 47 while beingcarried around into position beneath the plunger. This plate is providedwith an opening beneath the plunger through which the disks pass intothe cap (see Fig. 2). Plate d6, of course, moves with an intermittentmovement suitably timed by the gears of Fig. 4: to give a pause or dwellwhile plunger 28 is forcing an insulating disk downward into the metalcap. A spring pressed detent 50 (Fig. 2) engages with notches 51 inplate 4:6 to accurately center that plate over the waiting cap. l Vhenthe gears of Fig. l again come into effective engagement, detent 50 isforced back against the tension of its spring and rides along on theedge of the disk until the latter has travelled through an angle of 90.

A single attendant can operate several such machines simultaneouslysupplying insulating disks to the stack 8 and supplying empty caps tothe intake guideway 36. Plunger 28 reliably performs its function of notonly pushing the insulating disk into the metal cap but of there seatingit firmly against the metal. This function of forcibly seating the diskin the cap is of advantage in that it permits the use of insulatingdisks larger in diameter and more snugly fitting than could effectivelybe used if the filling of caps were done by hand according to presentpractice.

I am aware that various details of the machine may be altered withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for assembling disks in metal caps, a rotary actuatingshaft, ameniber mounted on said shaft for feeding the caps to theassembling position, a second member also mounted on said shaft androtating unitarily with said first named meinassembling position, meansfor guiding the caps in a path beneathsaid surface to the assemblingposition, a member mounted on said shaft and rotating unitarily withsaid first named member for moving the caps along such path, and meanslocated at the assembling position for forcing the disks into the caps.

3. A machine for assembling disks in metal caps comprising a horizontalsurface having an opening at the assembling position, a rotary memberfor sliding the disks over said surface to a position over said opening,means for guiding the caps in a path beneath said surface to a positionbeneath said opening, a rotary member having the same axis of rotationas said first named member and rotating unitarily therewith for movingthe caps to said position, and a plunger operating through said openingto force the disks into the caps.

4t. A machine for assembling disks in metal caps comprising a horizontalsurface having an opening'at the assembling position, a rotary memberfor sliding the disks over said surface to said opening, a supportingsurface for the caps beneath said first named surface, a rotary memberfor sliding the caps over their supporting surface to a position beneathsaid opening and means for forcing the disks through said opening intothe caps, said members being mounted to rot-ate unitarily about a commonaxis and being positioned with respect to each other so that they move acap and the corresponding disk in unison to said opening.

5. In a machine for assembling disks in metal caps, a plunger, rotatablefeeding means for moving the metal caps successively into positionbeneath said plunger and means rotating about the same axis of rotationand at the same speed as the first named til) means for moving the diskssuccessively into position beneath the plunger and means to actuate theplunger to force each disk into a corresponding cap.

6. In a machine for assembling disks in metal caps, a rotary actuatingshaft, a member mounted on said shaft for moving the caps successivelyto the assembling position, a member also mounted on said shaft androtating unitarily With said first named member for moving the disksseparately in a path terminating at the assembling position and means atthe assembling position for forcing the disks into the caps.-

7. A machine for assembling disks in metal caps comprising a horizontalsupporting surface having an opening at the assembling position, arotary member for sliding the disks separately over said surface to aposition over said opening, a supporting surface for the caps beneathsaid first named surface, a rotary member for sliding the capsseparately over said support-- ing surface to a position beneath saidopen ing, means for rotating both of said members unitarily about thesame axis. said members being correlated so that While a cap is beingmoved. over its supporting surface there is a disk directly above itbeing moved over its supporting surface whereby a cap and thecorresponding disk Will. reach the assembling position at the same time,and means at the assembling position for forcing the disks through saidopening into the caps.

8. A machine for assembling disks in metal caps comprising a horizontalsupporting surface havingan opening at the assembling position, a flatplate rotating above said surface, said plate having a series of openins therein, means for holding a column of disks in contact with saidplate whereby the lowermost disk is fed into one of said openings as theplate passes under the column, a supporting surface for the caps locatedbeneath said first named surface, a member adapted to move the caps oversaid surface to the assembling position, means for rotating said plateand said last named member in unison about a common axi and means at theassembling position for forcing each disk through the openings LOUVERNG. LANGE.

